1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to combustion engines and, more particularly, to exhaust valves in combustion engines.
2. Description of Related Art
Manufacturers of combustion engines in motorized conveyances may make a number of performance-related choices when designing their engines. Such manufacturers, because they seek to sell the conveyances to a relatively broad market, may make design trade-offs and choices to satisfy the most users over the widest range of possible conditions. Most users may find that these “middle of the road” design trade-offs and choices result in acceptable engine performance for their needs.
Some users, however, may wish to modify their engines from an original or “stock” configuration to obtain better performance, such as overall performance or performance under certain environmental conditions. Such “performance tuning” may be performed in a mechanic's and/or the user's shop/garage and may involve wholesale replacement or modification of at least a portion of the engine. In certain situations (e.g., for changing environmental conditions and/or for performance tweaking), however, users may wish to tune their engines relatively rapidly during a short break when using the conveyance (e.g., “on the fly”). In such situations, various tools and/or parts may be required to make the change(s) to improve performance. This requirement for tools and/or parts makes on the fly changes impractical for most users.
Thus, there is a need in the art for devices to facilitate the rapid user-tuning of engines.